Tag Archives: Westwood Police

On December 29, 2011, Franklin Township Municipal Court Judge E. Ronald Wright signed an Order directing the Bedminster Police Department to comply within ten days.

The provisions of said Order included the return of all of this publisher’s equipment and materials seized pursuant to a November 2009 search warrant executed by Bedminster Police Detective Nanci Arraial, and assisted by, among others, Westwood Police Detective Robert Saul Jr.

The Bedminster Police Department was first in default of the Court Order when it failed to comply within ten days. On January 11, 2012, Bedminster Police Department Dlt. Craig Meyer delivered the seized equipment to MrWestwood.com’s attorney in Westwood.

At that time, it was noted that the Bedminster Police Department failed to return both the copies of the data retrieved from the equipment, and all of the photographic images of the dwelling taken during the seizure, in violation of Judge Wright’s Order.

In court on January 26, 2012, this publisher’s attorney brought the Bedminster Police Department’s non-compliance with the Order to Judge Wright’s attention. As a result, Judge Wright ordered Bedminster Police Department’s Nanci Arraial to comply with the remaining provisions of his Order, and to provide proof of full compliance by way of certifications.

As of this date, the Bedminster Police Department is still in default of a number of provisions of Judge Wright’s Order, specifically: the return of all equipment undamaged and untampered with, and in the condition in which it was seized; the return of all copies of the data taken from the seized equipment, together with all photographic images of the dwelling/premises taken during the execution of the search warrant, and all copies of said data and images.

The returned property is still being examined, but a limited examination by this publisher reveals damage and tampering to the seized property; the data, images, and copies have not been returned either. The Bedminster NJ Police Department is in continued violation of Judge Wright’s Court Order.

Imagine one morning in your Westwood home while you’re getting ready for work, your doorbell rings. You answer the door to find a handful of Somerset County cops yelling at you to let them in. They have a search warrant and they tell you if you don’t let them in, they will arrest you for obstruction. You discover that one of those cops is Westwood Police Detective Robert Saul, Jr.

You call your lawyer, then you reluctantly let them in.

When it’s all said and done, the police cart off 18 separate items of valuable personal property consisting of computers and computer related equipment and materials, plus an mp3 player, a cell phone and a digital camera.

Upon inspection of the search warrant/communications data warrant, you discover that the subject of the police investigation is your website exposé of Rutgers University and one of its directors, Amy H. Wollock, Esq.

The scenario described above happened to this website’s publisher one morning in November, 2009. In an effort to assert my news media status which entitles me to protections against searches and seizures of this kind, and to reclaim all of the seized materials, I filed a civil lawsuit in January 2010 against, among others, Bedminster Police Detective Nanci Arraial and Westwood Police Detective Robert Saul, Jr.

Though the statutory protections exist, there is no legal precedent in New Jersey for the protections I assert. Mine is a landmark case for news media status protections of an internet publisher, with some similarities to the recent Too Much Media vs. Shellee Hale decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court.

Today, we’re addressing the unsolicited analog political advertisements that have defaced property in the Borough of Westwood, NJ.

This political spam turned up last year in anticipation of an election for Bergen County sheriff.

The election is over, but the spam remains.

Saudino Spam, Old Hook Road, Westwood.

The most egregious political spam remaining in place bears the name of the election’s victor, Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino.

These spam stickers can be found in a number of places throughout the borough of Westwood, and in other Pascack Valley towns. They hang like a claim of ownership, like a warning to all those who enter, like a “tag” placed by a gang on its territory.

Saudino Spam, Forest Ave., Westwood.

Defacing public or private property in this manner is a violation of N.J.S. 2C:17-3 (Criminal Mischief).

Why have the local and/or county police ignored this vandalism for so long?

Saudino Spam, corner of Old Hook & Kinderkamack Roads, Westwood.

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It’s a quality of life issue: motorcycle noise. You know, those loud motorcycles that are illegally modified to make excessive noise. It’s the type of contraption only a brain-dead individual would own; one would have to be brain-dead to make a road vehicle louder.

Illegal motorcycle exhaust modifications impact everyone in at least a quarter-mile radius from the offending vehicle. Many of these noise machines are found driving around Westwood and the Pascack Valley every day. Why won’t the police enforce the local noise ordinances as well as the NHTSA and EPA regulations on motorcycle emissions??

It is a disturbing reality that Westwood’s overstaffed and overpaid cops turn a blind eye to quality of life issues like excessive noise emanating from illegally-modified motorcycles on local roads.

by Mr. Westwood

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Why won’t the police union PBA #206 provide the Westwood Borough Council with a list of demands? How can we conduct contract negotiations with people who don’t put their demands in writing? It’s not surprising that negotiations have been unsuccessful. At the 8/16/05 Borough Council meeting, Mayor Wanner tells the PBA #206 attorney:

“It’s difficult to negotiate when I don’t know what your full demands are . . . No matter how many times we’ve requested it, we haven’t gotten a list of demands. We get subjective ideas and thoughts, but nothing specific that we can quantify.”

The PBA #206 attorney responds:“If you want to make a representation to the public here that when I make a list of demands for you, that list won’t end up in The Record with conjectured estimates of what it might mean to budgets . . .”

Anybody in their right mind has to ask what the Westwood police have to hide. Why can’t the Council have a list of demands? Why can’t that list be made available to public scrutiny and conjecture? If the police truly were the noble and benevolent people they make themselves out to be, then they would be open and honest in their communication with the Borough that employs them.

Westwood has the largest police department in the entire Pascack Valley. Westwood is only 2.5 square miles in area. Westwood is not New York City. Westwood IS NOT ANY CITY. There is no crime in Westwood (or the Pascack Valley) to keep all of these cops we’ve employed busy. As a result, the Westwood cops have to drive around looking for things to do. This wastes lots of taxpayer money in the form of insurance, benefits, pension and retirement money, and other expenses like uniform reimbursement and training. Let’s not forget the damage this does to our reputation as Westwood becomes known as an unfriendly place to live or visit.

We have too many cops, too many police vehicles, too many gadgets for them to play with, and not enough tax dollars to support the burden. Property taxes are at an all-time high, and will never decrease. Westwood doesn’t need the largest and most overpaid police department in the Valley. Westwood needs to reduce the size of the police department just like any other business would cut unnecessary expenses when finances are tight. The money we save can go towards property tax relief and towards some of the more valuable services to the community such as the public schools and the DPW. It’s that simple. Stop the nonsense.